ah woke up again and now the elephant in the room - England or Gt Britain - they are different heh - so is it England alone which might want to break with the monarchy or Gt Britain as a whole - has anyone considered doing a sorta poll on this through the kingdoms of Scotland ; Wales ; Northern Ireland and perhaps Cornwall??
A republic may be Labor Party policy (I donāt know) but Albo said it is not a priority he is far more concerned with enacting the Uluru Statement. A discussion about becoming a republic may come up in future but as has been already mentioned it is not a pressing issue in Australia at the moment.
Anyway becoming a republic does not mean leaving the Commonwealth, many members of the Commonwealth do not have the British monarch as the Head of State: India, Pakistan, Fiji, Kenya are just a few I can mention without looking it up
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Hi
A purely ceremonial presidency would be no different from a Monarchy, so I will stick with the Monarchy, however a slimmed down one.
An elected presidency with powers would be a huge change, the two party system would continue with an additional layer, not something I am in favour of.
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Well weāve got a King now so everyone had better get used to it.
did you say ya got a king? - wow didnāt notice that one - I would like to take umbridge with this term ācommonwealthā - doesnāt this imply sharing a little or a lot - wot is mine is yours and if you are a bit short donāt worry and I can give you an interest free loan for life?? all the little nations still all seem poor - oz is paying the airfares for some to come over for the funeral??
As foreshadowed not so popular in the Caribbean
letās be honest if no one is giving these smaller commonwealth countries any extra money then why would they wanna stay - if there was big money in it sure they would but a cheap meal once every few years donāt add up to much heh? and itās a bit of an old lads/ladies club heh and the british crown does more visiting to them than they to britain - so obviously some are working out that thereās really not much in it anymore - OR they just donāt like Charles??
Not sure if this should go here or not but I found this
Thereās always the staggering cost ā when everything is taken into account itās BILLIONS with NOTHING in return. Not even death duties and that is disgusting.
I do think that itās absurd that the sovereign with all her vast wealth should be exempt from IHT while someone with an ex council property worth over Ā£325 k has to pay it at 40%
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Hi
There are many ways of avoiding Inheritance Tax, the very rich do not pay it at all.
A very effective and simple method is gifts from income.
A very careful read is advised.
Downsizing is also to be advised.
The problem is Swims most peoples major asset is their house and they canāt give it away while they are still living so they are asset rich cash poor
Re cash you can only give Ā£3000 a way each tax year .
Or you can give as much as you like and hope that you live 7 years afterwards .
Very weathly people put their money in trust for their children so can avoid IHT in this way .
Another example of how the rich and poor are increasingly divided .
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Yes, an era has passed and personally now Elizabeth has gone, I would rather see our country become a republic and stay within Europe. Moving away from Europe with Brexit was always a damaging thing to do for this country (but thatās another subject and I am off topic). I would like to see the Commonwealth survive (maybe with a change of name) but I have my doubts that it will.
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A great time of change I suppose, the slow decline of the Commonwealth, a smaller Royal Family, energy and living costs, I feel like I am in a small boat with no oars or rudder being tossed about in a great storm.
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Hi
I did say read it carefully, and no, I donāt think you are stupid, far from it.
Your house will be a problem , it was not put in trust years ago.
Even if you gift it or part of it, you will have to pay the kids a market rent for your use of the property, which means they will be taxed.
You can however give away whatever you want if it is from income and you can prove that you can reasonably afford it.
There is always a cost, have you ever known a time when there wasnāt?
An English nursery rhyme from about 1764
They hang the man and flog the woman
That steal the goose from of the common
But let the greater villain loose
That steals the common from the goose
The law demands that we atone
When we take things we do not own
But leaves the Lords and Ladies fine
Who take the things that are yours and mine
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And there my friend is the reason for the great divideā¦And it will always be so.